For those who are not familiar, I started a series a while back called Turnover Tuesdays. Every Tuesday I like to highlight one item that I have resold. This will include profitable and non profitable sales. I hope that there is always something to learn.
Week 31 - Sometimes You Need to Stop, Refocus and Reprice
Week 32 - Target Cartwheel and other Coupons can have a Major Impact
Week 33 - Got a Return? You Might need to Reprice
Week 34 - Sometimes Returns Can be Very Profitable
Week 35 - Best Buy Gamer's Club
Week 36 - Reselling in Earnest Has Hurt My Credit Score
Week 32 - Target Cartwheel and other Coupons can have a Major Impact
Week 33 - Got a Return? You Might need to Reprice
Week 34 - Sometimes Returns Can be Very Profitable
Week 35 - Best Buy Gamer's Club
Week 36 - Reselling in Earnest Has Hurt My Credit Score
The longer I have been reselling on Amazon (it really hasn't been very long - coming up on one year in a couple of months), it seems that I am stingier and stingier in what types of margins I look for. I no longer make purchases just for the points if I'm going to break even. I am too afraid of fees/returns and the price of those points. That being said, every once in a while the stars align and a deal becomes available that I just can't refuse.
I don't know the first things about GPS's. Truth is I don't know the first thing about most of the merchandise I sell but this is a pretty expensive GPS.
I bought 10 of them from Cabela's for $399.99 each. That's $4,000! A big investment. I hope this goes well ;)
I bought 10 of them from Cabela's for $399.99 each. That's $4,000! A big investment. I hope this goes well ;)
Credit Card Points
I bought these GPS's on 12/5/2015. That's right in the middle of quarter 4. I maxed out all of my 2-2.2% cards and my 1.75% card and anything else worthwhile from a cashback perspective. Quarter 4 was really crazy.
In the end, I used my Chase Freedom for it. It was the best card I had left with available credit. So I earned 4,000 Ultimate Rewards points
This is where this purchase was crazy. American Airlines was offering 9x AA miles per $1 spent at Cabelas. That's 35,999 AA miles! That's like a sign up bonus for a credit card!
Loyalty Points
I did not earn any loyalty points.
Fulfillment by Amazon Fees
I had a tough time selling at first so I ended up lowering my price at some point but as is usually the case when you lower the price, I sold too fast.
I sold the first one on January 26th for $519.98 and the last one on February 6th for the same price (just a couple of days ago). I also waited for the person who told me the deal to sell his first. I apologize for all those who I couldn't tell about the deal. You have to respect the wishes of your sources.
Well, now if you go to the listing it's going for $549.99. Argh! That's an extra 7.5% of margin in a couple of days! That would have been $300. Oh well. Patience, patience, patience.
Fees at $519.98 are $41.60. Shipping was about $1 for each so the net is about $477. Let's call it $470 since it took longer than 30 days I probably paid some storage fees.
I sold the first one on January 26th for $519.98 and the last one on February 6th for the same price (just a couple of days ago). I also waited for the person who told me the deal to sell his first. I apologize for all those who I couldn't tell about the deal. You have to respect the wishes of your sources.
Well, now if you go to the listing it's going for $549.99. Argh! That's an extra 7.5% of margin in a couple of days! That would have been $300. Oh well. Patience, patience, patience.
Fees at $519.98 are $41.60. Shipping was about $1 for each so the net is about $477. Let's call it $470 since it took longer than 30 days I probably paid some storage fees.
The Haul
I pad $400 (no tax) and I earned $470 so $70 a unit. That's actually a solid 17.5% return not bad.
Here is how the numbers work
Cash = ~$70
Credit Card Points = 400 Ultimate Rewards points (per unit)
Portal Points = 3,600 AA miles (per unit)
Loyalty points = 0
While 17.5% is a nice return, I don't think I would have bought it (certainly not so many) had there not been a great portal available since I didn't know how fast it would sell. I was able to earn 4,000 UR and 36,000 AA miles for little to no work. That's a big win in my book. Oh yeah, I also made $700 ;)
There you have it: I'm always talking about how it's a bad idea to make purchases to resell just for the points but even I still do it!
There you have it: I'm always talking about how it's a bad idea to make purchases to resell just for the points but even I still do it!
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